Award-winning Australian television and theatre personality Todd McKenney is leading calls for the Tenterfield Saddler, in Northern New South Wales, to remain open for future generations.
The regional Australian icon, made famous by the tune penned by Australian singer-songwriter Peter Allen, is up for sale almost three decades after it last changed hands.
Tenterfield-born Allen wrote the tune as a tribute to his grandfather, George Woolnough, who was the original Tenterfield saddler at the now heritage-listed building on High Street.
McKenney played the role of Peter Allen more than 750 times from 1998 to 2000 in the Australian production of The Boy from Oz, and took to social media to plea for the building and the business to be saved.
"Peter and his life and music posthumously gave me my career," McKenney said.
"I feel like I owe it to always honour his music and legacy as much as I can.
"One of the highlights of my life is singing Tenterfield Saddler. I feel very connected to it and, over the years, I've sung it about 3,000 times. I never tire of singing it, and the audience never tires of hearing it."
McKenney said it had become part of Australia's musical heritage.
"I think to potentially lose the hard copy, the actual saddlery, would be a crying shame," he said.
McKenney said he had spoken to Tenterfield Mayor Bronwyn Petrie to seek assurances that the building would remain open.
A social media post pleading for the iconic building to be saved was shared more than 2,000 times by fans.
"I'm hoping some philanthropist or person who feels the same as I do gets behind it, so it stays in Australian hands and honoured and retained in its current form, and maybe even be developed into something bigger that still honours the building itself and the history of it," McKenney said.
"[The social media response] tells me it's not just me that feels like this about this particular piece of our heritage."
Family ready to move on after father's death
The building has been in the hands of the Meldon family who, after the death of patriarch Brian, said it was time to move on.
"It's a bit emotional because it's been in the family since 1995, " daughter Shannon Meldon said.
"Mum and Dad saw an ad for the shop in Tenterfield and loved the Peter Allen song and fell in love with it and bought it that day.
"Dad spent 25 years building up this brand and trademark and got it recognised nationally and internationally around the world and partnered with all these big Australian companies over the years. It was quite a ride.
"It really needs someone with that foresight to take it to the next level that Dad always dreamed of."
Ms Meldon said her father's passion for the business and its history had kept it going all those years, and expanding with a beer named after it and a concept store on the Gold Coast opening up as a result of its growing popularity.
"He had a really good vision for it and we had some good adventures over the years," she said.
"To this day, hundreds of tourists come to the town and the shop every week just to see the building."
A 'huge drawcard' for small country community
Tenterfield Mayor Bronwyn Petrie said the business had been kept open by a band of volunteers to keep the tourists happy.
"It would have to be our most-visited building. It's a huge drawcard," she said.
"Even when I travel away, people say ‘Tenterfield Saddler' or they start singing, or they say, ‘Isn't there a song about that?', so it is extremely well-known not just in Australia but also overseas."
Ms Petrie said the building was in need of repair.
"It is heritage-listed, so some people are concerned that someone will buy it and demolish it but, no, that can't happen," she said.
"It's basically a museum, so we'd love to see that continue rather than see someone buy it and put a different type of retail in there.
"If there was any way council could be the owners ourselves, we'd love to. But it's just the finances — that's the issue."
